On the mass scale of population 3 stars

The problem of the cosmological origin of heavy elements we consider as the definite need of a stellar Population 3 that formed before the Universe had any appreciable heavy element content. Through qualitative considerations the interaction of small-scale density perturbations of stellar size with large-scale perturbations of supercluster size in the evolution of the Universe are considered. We conclude that the mass scale of Population 3 stars seems to be 10 Msun <∼ M <∼ 100 Msun. 14 refs., 2 figs. (author)